SIMS 2013 Summer Upgrade now available 13-E63 - EiS Kent

13-E63 

ACTION: 

Schools are advised to perform this SIMS 2013 Summer Main Release upgrade at their 

earliest convenience as this upgrade includes functionality for the next School Census 

and the next School Workforce Census. In addition for Secondary and secondary age 

Special schools some changes to the functionality for Exams Results Days is included. 

Important Note: Schools who are now being upgraded using SOLUS3 should not 

follow these instructions for the upgrade of SIMS and should instead refer to EiS 

Information Notice 13-E67 

Important Note: for Schools using the Kent Learning Zone (KLZ) to connect 

remotely to their SIMS database. 

It is important that schools using the KLZ to access their SIMS database remotely 

via the Internet should upgrade their SIMS system as near as possible to the date 

that EiS will be updating the remote connection element that is part of KLZ, 

otherwise schools will not be able to access SIMS remotely. EiS will be updating 

the remote connection on Sunday 21 July 2013 between 8.00am and 8.00pm. 

Important Note: for Schools who’s SIMS database is being hosted by EiS. 

The upgrade to your SIMS database will take place on Sunday 21 July 2013 

between 8.00am and 8.00pm. This will mean that you will not be able to access 

your SIMS database during this time. 

AUDIENCE: 

This document is primarily for SIMS System Managers but when the upgrade is 

implemented it is recommended that the information in the ‘What is included in the 

SIMS 2013 Summer Main Release’ section, which can be found at the end of this 

notice, should be shared with other SIMS users as appropriate. 

ATTENTION OF: 

SIMS System Managers. 

PRODUCT: 

SIMS 

SUBJECT: 

SIMS 2013 Spring Main Release Upgrade 

DESCRIPTION: 

To inform schools about the availability of the SIMS 2013 Summer Main Release and 

provide instructions on how to download and apply the update using SOLUS 2. 

Please note that separate instructions will be issued for the upgrade of SIMS 

Discover. 

Support 

If you have any questions about any procedure in this notice please contact EiS Kent. 

Telephone: 01622 672779 | Faxback: 01622 673441 | Email: support@eis.kent.gov.uk

SIMS 2013 SUMMER MAIN RELEASE 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION 

This release should only be applied on the computer that is the SIMS SQL Server. 

If users try to apply the upgrade by running SOLUS on a SIMS client computer, the 

upgrade is likely to fail and the database will be rolled back to the previous version. 

This update release should only be applied if you are, as a minimum, already on 

version 7.150 of SIMS .net. 

Important Notes: 

1. Schools using the SIMS Learning Gateway Solution 

Schools who are using the SIMS Learning Gateway (SLG), whether hosted by Capita 

or in house, can apply this upgrade but should also apply their SLG Summer 2013 

Upgrade as soon as possible thereafter in order to ensure full compatibility between 

SIMS and SLG. 

2. Schools using the SIMS Partnership Xchange Solution 

Schools who are using the SIMS Partnership Xchange (PX) solution should ensure 

that they complete the upgrade of the PX Agent at the same time as this upgrade 

otherwise the PX solution will cease to work. 

3. Schools using the SIMS InTouch Solution 

Schools who are using the SIMS InTouch solution should apply the SIMS InTouch 

Summer 2013 Release once they have completed the SIMS 2013 Summer Main 

Release which would have been issued to you separately by Capita Children’s 

Services Limited. 

4. Schools using the Kent Learning Zone (KLZ) to connect remotely to their SIMS 

database 

It is important that schools using the KLZ to access their SIMS database remotely via 

the Internet should upgrade their SIMS system as near as possible to the date that EiS 

will be updating the remote connection element that is part of KLZ, otherwise schools 

will not be able to access SIMS remotely. EiS will be updating the remote connection 

on Sunday 21 July 2013 between 8.00am and 8.00pm. 

5. Schools whose SIMS database is being hosted by EiS. 

The upgrade to your SIMS database will take place on Sunday 21 July 2013 between 

8.00am and 8.00pm. This will mean that you will not be able to access your SIMS 

database during this time. 

6. Schools Using SIMS Nova T6 Satellite Applications 

Schools who are using SIMS Nova T6 Satellite Applications will also need to ensure 

that School Timetablers have updated the SIMS Nova T6 satellite versions being used 

on a laptop or other stand-alone computer following this SIMS upgrade. The version 

can be checked by left clicking Help on the menu bar and opening ‘About’. Please refer 

to EiS Information Notice 12-E29 – Upgrading Nova Satellite, for full instructions. 

Support 

If you have any questions about any procedure in this notice please contact EiS Kent. 

Telephone: 01622 672779 | Faxback: 01622 673441 | Email: support@eis.kent.gov.uk

EiS Kent Information Notice 13-E63 July 2013 

Advice for Performing this Upgrade 

EiS strongly suggest that you prepare carefully for this upgrade by reading these 

instructions in full before starting the upgrade. 

Please set aside sufficient time to perform this update and plan it to coincide with the 

available times for the EiS Service Desk (8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday excluding 

public holidays) should you need to call us for advice/support whist performing the 

upgrade. 

EiS would recommend upgrading in the morning or early afternoon so that should any 

unexpected problems arise, EiS can assist you in either completing the upgrade or by 

returning your SIMS system to its original state before the end of the working day. 

On which machine should you run this upgrade? 

This upgrade must be run on the machine which is used as your SIMS database server. 

This will be the machine where the SIMS database files are physically located. 

If you are not sure which machine you should be using please contact the EiS Service 

Desk for assistance before proceeding. 

For Windows XP Professional or Windows 2003/2008 Server computers/servers 

you must log in as a user with Administrator permissions. 

It is also recommended that you establish the SIMS module path (unless you 

already know it). The module path will be something like S:\SIMS although some 

systems will be using other drive letters (examples of other expected drive letters 

could be C or F or T or W). 

It is VITAL that you do a manual backup of your SIMS and FMS SQL databases and 

make a copy of the SIMS Setups folder as described below before attempting this 

update. 

© EiS Kent Page 2


Making a Manual Backup of your SIMS Database 

1. Please ensure a manual backup of your SIMS Microsoft SQL Database is performed. 

To do this, run SIMS .net and login as a user with SIMS System Manager access 

rights. Now run System Manager 6. At the SIMS System Manager Module screen 

select Tools then Create Backup… and the following box will appear. 

Note: The path in the Backup Directory could be different from that above as it is 

dependent on how your system was configured when Microsoft SQL Server was 

installed. 

2. Type in a Backup Description of ‘Pre SIMS 2013 Summer Main Release Backup’ and 

then click Create. The following window will appear and you should click ‘Yes’ to start 

the backup. 

The backup will then be created. When the backup has finished the ‘Backup/Restore 

Status’ box will close and you will be returned to the System Manager screen. 

You should now exit from System Manager for Windows and SIMS .net in the normal 

way. 

Important Note: If for any reason the backup is NOT successfully created (if 

this is the case you should get an error message telling you this) please DO NOT 

proceed any further and contact the EIS Service Desk for assistance. 



Making a Manual Backup of your SIMS FMS6 Database 

Because SIMS Personnel 7 works in synchronisation with FMS6, it is VITAL that backups 

are made of your FMS6 database as described below before attempting this upgrade. 

This is necessary to ensure synchronous continuity between SIMS .net and FMS6 should 

a restore be necessary following an upgrade failure. 

Instructions for backing up FMS6. 

1. Login to FMS6 as normal. Select Tools, FMS Transactions Backup as shown in the 

picture below. 

2. A ‘Confirm’ message box will appear asking if you are sure you want to backup the 

database. Click on Yes to continue. 

3. A backup of your FMS6 database will now be done and when it has completed you will 

get an Information message box appear as shown in the picture below. Click OK to 

complete the backup process. 

You have now successfully backed up your FMS6 database. 



If any errors are reported please contact the EiS Service Desk and do not proceed 

further. 

Making a Copy of your SIMS Setups Folder 

Following some problems experienced by a few schools with past updates, EIS feels it 

would be advisable to also make a copy of the S:\SIMS\Setups folder (some systems will 

be using other drive letters e.g. it may be C: or F: or T: or X: instead of S: and you should 

adjust these instructions accordingly). 

To do this click on Start, then Run and in the Open box type S:\SIMS and then click OK. 

You should now get a window showing the contents of the S:\SIMS folder similar to the 

one below. 



Next find and select the Setups folder and then click on Edit followed by Copy. 

Next find the 2012 folder and double mouse click it to open it. 

Next click on Edit, then Paste to make a copy of the Setups folder in the 2012 folder. 



You will be prompted to replace/overwrite the existing Setups folder within the 2012 folder 

and you should accept this and overwrite the existing copy of the Setups folder. 

The system will now start to copy the files into a folder called Copy of Setups. 

The Setups folder will now appear in your 2012 folder as shown in the picture below. 

You have now successfully made a copy of your S:\SIMS\Setups folder. 

Safeguarding Any ‘Custom Made’ Reports 

EiS feel it would also be prudent for schools to safeguard any ‘custom made’ reports 

(these are reports that have been produced in-house using the SIMS .net Reporting tool) 

as outlined in EiS Information Notice 11-E16 which can be downloaded from the 

Information Notices section on our web site at www.eiskent.co.uk 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR UPGRADING TO THE SIMS 2013 SUMMER MAIN 

RELEASE 

Important Note: 

No users should be logged in to SIMS or FMS when you perform this upgrade. 

This release should only be applied on the computer that is the SIMS SQL Server. 

To perform the upgrade click on Start, Programs, SIMS Applications, Update and Run 

SOLUS. 

1. After a pause you may get a File Download – Security Warning appear (this will 

depend on your Internet security settings). If you do get this warning click on Run 

and then move on to item 2 below, if you do not get this warning then move straight 

to item 3 below. 

2. The ‘Internet Explorer – Security Warning’ box may appear next and you should 

again click on Run. 

3. The SIMS SOLUS Installation box will appear and after a short pause the ‘Welcome 

to the SIMS .net Online Update Service Wizard’ will come on screen. 

4. You will see from the previous picture that Version 2.24 of the SIMS SOLUS 2 

Wizard has various options. This screen should be completed as follows: 

a) Enter a SIMS User Name and SIMS Password of a SIMS user that has full 

SIMS System Manager access. 

b) Please leave the FMS section blank. Separate instructions for the upgrade of 

FMS6 will be issued in the near future. 



c) The SLG Installation Upgrade tick box should also be left blank. Schools using 

SLG will receive separate instructions from Capita Children’s Services about 

how SLG will be upgraded. 

Now press the Login button 

5. Because you have not entered an FMS username and FMS password as instructed 

above you will be warned that as no FMS login credentials have been entered they 

will not be validated and therefore no FMS upgrade releases will be made available. 

Simply click OK to acknowledge this and continue. 

6. If your SIMS User Name and Password has been accepted the ‘Downloading and 

Applying Packages’ window will appear showing that the ‘SIMS 2013 Summer’ is 

available for download. Click on the Next button to continue. 



7. You will be asked if you wish to download and apply the available packages. Click 

‘Yes’ to continue. 

8. At this point the update is downloaded and placed in a temporary folder in your 

SIMS/Setups folder. How long this will take will depend on how much bandwidth 

you have available on your Internet connection and when you last applied a SIMS 

update. 

Once the updates have downloaded, they will begin to apply automatically and you 

will get several windows such as the one shown below appearing on your 

computer screen. 

There may also be several pauses during this part of the process so please be 

patient and allow the upgrades to complete. 

9. Once the updates have been completed the SIMS Database Upgrade Tool window 

will appear and the database upgrade will start automatically. While the database 

upgrade is taking place there will be times when the process appears to ‘freeze’. 

Please do not interrupt the upgrade as it will still be working. If you are concerned 

about what appears to be a long period of inactivity please call the EiS Service 

Desk before attempting to stop the upgrade in any way. As a guide, the database 



upgrade will probably take between 30 and 90 minutes depending on the technical 

specification of your SIMS Database Server. 

Note: Due to the way SOLUS 2 works you will see that the database upgrade is 

run from an unusually named temporary folder in the \SIMS\Setups folder as 

shown below. This is normal behaviour so please do not alter this. Once the 

upgrade is complete the temporary folder will be deleted. 

10. When the upgrade has completed the following window will appear and you should 

click on Finish to complete the upgrade. 

LOG IN TO SIMS .Net (WHERE INSTALLED) 

On those workstations where SIMS .net has been installed, when a user next logs into 

SIMS .net an automatic update will take place before the SIMS .net login banner is 

provided. On most workstations this update will take no longer than 60 seconds but this 

will depend on the CPU speed and memory available on each workstation. 



It is recommended users use the Start | All Programs | SIMS Applications | SIMS .net 

method to start SIMS .net following an update as it has been found that using a SIMS .net 

shortcut icon from the desktop does not always kick off the automatic update process. 

Please don’t worry if you see lots of files being skipped as the update will only install files 

which are of a newer version than those you already have. 

Checking the SIMS .net Version Number 

Once the update has been completed the SIMS .net version should be 7.152 and the 

Database Build should be 3.61.896 Build 35. To check this go into SIMS .net, select 

Help\About SIMS .net and the version number will be displayed as shown below. 

Once you have checked it click on the picture to close the window. 



IMPORTING THE UPDATED SIMS .NET REPORTS 

The following instructions only need to be carried out once to make the reports available 

to all computers that run SIMS .net on the school network. 

1. To import the reports login to SIMS .net and select Reports | Import. The Import 

Reports window will appear. 

2. Click on Open and the ‘Select report file to import’ window will open and you 

should see a file called Predefined_Reports_v7152.RptDef. Select it by clicking on 

it and then click on Open. 

3. The Import Report(s) window will now open. Check that all the reports have a tick 

next to them on the left hand side and that a tick is present in the Import 

associated templates box. Now click on Import to import the reports to your SIMS 

.net Document Server. 

© EiS Kent Page 13


4. When the reports have been imported the word Imported will appear in the Status 

column as shown below. Click on Close to complete the process. 

The new/updated reports are now imported and will be available to all computers that run 

SIMS .net. 

IMPORTING THE CCS BASE LOOKUPS FILE 

It is essential that all schools import the CCS Base Lookups File with this release and the 

following instructions take you through how to do this. 

1. Enter SIMS .net logging in as a user with System Manager access rights. Select 

Tools | Lookups | Import Lookups 

2. The Import Lookups screen will appear. In section 1 click on the Select File box. 



3. The Open window will open and you should browse to your SIMS folder and select the 

file called CCS_base_lookups.zip. Click on Open to continue. 

Note: The SIMS path will be something like S:\SIMS although some systems will be 

using other drive letters (examples of other expected drive letters could be C or F or T 

or W). 

4. You will be returned to the Import Lookups window and a list of lookup codes and 

values will appear. Click on Import to start the lookups import process. 



5. When the lookups have been successfully imported you will get a message in the 

bottom left hand corner of the SIMS .net window as shown in the pictures below. 

The import of the latest CCS Base Lookup file is now complete and the new/updated 

lookup tables will be available to SIMS users. 



WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE 2013 SIMS SUMMER MAIN RELEASE? 

To assist schools in identifying which items are relevant to their school colour coded 

relevance keys have been introduced as follows: 

All Schools = All 

Primary = Pri 

Special/Pru = Spe 

Secondary = Sec 

Academic Management 

Sec/Spe 

Fixes 

This release includes fixes in the following areas: 

Where a student is assigned membership of two classes with 

overlapping membership dates, the period of overlap is now 

correctly displayed in red (via Focus | School | Academic Structure | 

Curriculum Assignment by Student). 

Admissions (Where Licensed) 

All 

New Features 

New Icons on the SIMS Toolbar for Enquiries and Applications 

Icons have been added to the SIMS toolbar, enabling you to access 

enquiry details (Independent schools only) and application details 

quickly. 

Filtering the View of Linked Documents 

Focus | Admission | Application 

Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details 

The list of Linked Documents associated with a pupil/student or 

applicant, accessed via the Links panel, can now be filtered to display 

those of a particular type. 

Fixes 

This release includes a fix in the following area: 

The Projected Pupil (or Student) Numbers report now displays the 

correct information for pupil/students whose application status has 

changed to a user defined status (via Reports | Admissions | 

Projected Pupil (or Student) Numbers). 



Analysis 

New Features 

Changes to Trend Analysis 

Routines | Data Out | Performance Analysis | Export 

Routines | Data In | Performance Analysis | Import 

Changes have been made to the Import and Export Wizards to enable 

bulk import and export of Trend Analysis Reviews. 

All 

Assessing Pupil Progress (APP) 

Pri 

New Features 

Provision of New Grid Templates 

The EYFS Profile Termly APP Birth to 60 Months Progress Grid 

Templates have been added. 

EYFS progress grids and associated marksheets for Nursery and 

Reception classes are based on the learning goals outlined in the 

Development Matters guidelines and the Statutory Framework for the 

Early Years Foundation Stage. The Pupil Progress grid templates are 

used to record assessment against 17 learning goals from the 2013 

EYFS Profile by age band. Results are recorded twice per term for the 

Reception year (as they work towards their EYFS goals) and once a 

term for pupils in the Nursery year groups. 

Assessment 

All 

New Features 

Improvements to the Export of Marksheets 

Focus | Assessment | Marksheet Entry 

When exporting a marksheet to Excel, the numeric values are now 

exported as numbers instead of in words, by default, for all Marks 

aspects. However, if required, you can enter a single quote before 

changing a numeric value to words and this is still exported to Excel in 

words. 

Marking a Data Entry Column as Read Only 

Focus | Assessment | Template 

You can now select a check box to mark a Data Entry or Data Review 



using Formula column as Read Only when creating or editing a 

template in the Template Columns panel of the Template Details page. 

Fixes 


The performance of the import from spreadsheet function has been 

enhanced (via Routines | Data In | Assessment | Import From 

Spreadsheet). 

To prevent linked documents from becoming corrupted, the required 

template and linked documents are now uploaded to the Document 

Management Server (via Focus | Assessment | Individual Reports). 

It is now possible to customise the text for Strengths, Next Steps, 

Overall Assessment, Colour Pallet, Guidance Notes in Progress 

Grid Entry (via Focus | Assessment | Progress Grid Entry). 

The tilde (~) is no longer displayed in marksheet column headings 

for newly created templates when the column headings repeat for 

different result sets (via Focus | Assessment | Marksheet Entry). 

It is now possible to include columns in a marksheet that use 

formula calculations based on age related lookups when the lookups 

result in age scores (via Focus | Assessment | Template). 

The correct registration group is now displayed in the NI KS Results 

Export (via Routines | Data Out | NI KS Results | Export | Export | 

Preview). 

It is now possible to export multiple templates simultaneously when 

at least one template included in the export contains Discover 

Aspects (via Routines | Data In | Assessment | Import). 

Attendance 

All 

New Features 

Student Identification Column: Medical Conditions 

An additional column identifying where Medical Conditions exist for a 

pupil/student is now available in all routines where pupil/student names 

are listed, e.g. Focus | Attendance | Take Register, Edit Marks, Deal 

with Missing Marks, etc. 

The column can be set up by the Attendance Manager or School 

Administrator as a default column, or displayed temporarily by rightclicking 

a pupil/student identification column heading and selecting 

from the pop-up menu. 



Fixes 


When previewing or printing the Percentage Attendance Report, the 

number of rows displayed on each page has been standardised to 

better fit an A4 page (via Reports | Attendance | Selected Student 

Reports | Percentage Attendance Report). 

The Today's Register Report is no longer printed multiple times in a 

vertical pastoral structure (via Reports | Attendance | Whole Group 

Student Reports | Today's Register Report). 

The session teacher's name is now displayed when you hover over 

a mark in Edit Marks (via Focus | Attendance | Edit Marks). 

When an Exceptional Circumstance (#) code is added for a date that 

spans a half-term and is then deleted, the # codes that were entered 

as part of the half-term holiday are no longer removed (via Focus | 

Attendance | Exceptional Circumstances). 

Course Manager 

Sec/Spe 

New Features 

Addition of the Core Aim field when Designing a Report 

Reports | Design Reports 

When designing a report on the Select fields to be included in this 

report page, you can now select Core Aim from the School | Courses 

for Student | Associated Courses nodes. 

Additional Search Fields and Functions in the Find Course 

Browser 

Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course 

Some changes have been made to some of the fields available in the 

Find Course browser: 

You can now select View All Courses from the View Memberships 

drop-down list. This field was previously called the View drop-down 

list. 

There is now a Reset Filters button that enables you to restore the 

default search parameters. 



Changes Made to the Import DfE QAN Catalogue from QWS Menu 

Route 

Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Import Qualification Data 

This menu route was previously labelled as Tools | Statutory Return 

Tools | Import DfE QAN Catalogue from QWS. It has been renamed to 

indicate that the ability to import the Performance Measures XML files 

(Performance Measures ENG and NI ONLY.XML) has been 

incorporated. 

Changes to the Course Manager Settings Page 

Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Course Manager 

Settings 

A number of changes have been made to the Update Course Manager 

Settings page in line with changes to the School Census requirements: 

As Exam Outcomes are no longer collected in the School Census, 

the Import Outcome File panel is no longer required and has been 

removed. 

An additional check box called Discount Results has been provided 

to enable you to specify whether the exam results calculation 

includes discounting. This check box is selected by default and 

ensures that you do not need to edit exam results when creating the 

School Census return. Both EDI and Non EDI results are calculated. 

Changes to Levels 

The following additional Levels have been provided: 

CIEG iGCSE Full Course 

BTXe2 BTEC Extended Certificate Level 2 

BTSd3 BTEC Subsidiary Diploma Level 3 

IBDPH IB Diploma Program Higher Level 

IBDPS IB Diploma Program Standard Level 

IBMYP IB Middle Years Program 

IBPYP IB Primary Years Program. 

Changes to the Student Courses Page 

Focus | Student | Student Details 

When clicking the Courses hyperlink from the Links panel, the Result 

Outcome is no longer displayed. 



Course Details - Basic panel 


Additional functionality has been provided in this page including: 

a Reset Filters button on the Find Course browser enables you to 

restore the default settings and remove previously selected Levels 

before beginning a search for another course. 

the View field has been renamed as View Memberships to clarify 

that the date range applies to student memberships. You can also 

select to View All Courses instead of searching for student 

memberships across a date range. 

Course Details - Examination panel 


The column in the Certification Elements panel previously called 

QA/Discount Code has been renamed as AO QAN/Discount code. AO 

is an acronym for Awarding Organisation. 

Course Details - Memberships and Results panel 


A number of changes and additions have been made in this panel: 

The panel previously called Memberships, Results and Outcomes 

has been renamed as Memberships and Results to reflect the 

change in School Census requirements. 

The Outcome column has been removed from the Memberships and 

Results grid. 

Two new columns called AO QAN/Disc and QWS QAN/Disc have 

been provided in the Memberships and Results grid to enable you to 

compare and confirm the correct QAN code. 

It is no longer possible to select Resit from the Status drop-down list 

when removing a student's membership from the course. 

Removal of Exam Result Outcomes 

In response to the changes made to the DfE specification, we have 

made a number of changes throughout the Course Manager module 

including: 

The Exam Outcome for Learning Aims is no longer collected in the 

School Census and has been removed. 



The Exam Result for Learning Aims is no longer collected in the 

School Census and has been removed. 

The Discount Code for Learning Aims has been reinstated. 

It is no longer necessary to import an Outcome File so the ability to 

do this has been removed from Tools | Academic Management | 

Course Manager | Course Manager Settings. 

The ability to check an Exam Result Outcome is no longer available 

from Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Exams 

Outcome List. 

Cover 

Sec/Spe 

Fixes 


It is no longer possible to record duplicate absences and room 

closures accidentally, where only the time/period is different (via 

Focus | School | Arrange Cover). 

Examinations Organiser 

Sec/Spe 

New Features 

Ability to Import the Performance Measures XML File 

Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Import Qualification Data 

Secondary schools using the new features in Course Manager must 

import a copy of the Performance Measures file for use in PI. There is 

one Performance Measure file for schools in England (Performance 

Measures ENG and NI ONLY.XML). 

This file contains information that has been derived from the Register 

of Regulated Qualifications (RRQ) provided by Ofqual (for schools in 

England and Northern Ireland). 

The RRQ comprises the details of recognised Awarding Bodies and 

their qualifications for England (Ofqual) together with the unit structure 

of the qualifications. 

Once you have imported the Performance Measures .xml file, you can 

print two new reports that enable you to check the integrity of the 

QANs in the basedata: 

Certification Elements without QANs - this report lists the Series 

Board Entry Code and the Title of all basedata elements without a 

QAN. You must enter the missing QANs via Focus | Basedata | 



Basedata for Season dialog to ensure the accuracy of the PI data. 

Certification Elements with unmatched QANs - this report lists the 

Series Board Entry Code, Title and QAN of all basedata elements 

that have a different QAN from the QAN details provided in the 

Performance Measures .xml file. You must correct the QANs in the 

basedata to ensure the accuracy of the PI data. 

Note: Both of these reports check the QAN information held for the 

past 4 years. 

Please refer to The New Course Manager handbook for more detailed 

information relating to the import of the applicable Performance 

Measures file. 

Changes to the PI Result Add Dialog 

Focus | PI Values | Edit PI Data 

Changes have been made to the PI Result Add dialog for Secondary 

schools in England. These changes enable the data imported from the 

applicable Performance Measures file to be displayed and a number of 

fields are populated automatically after the QAN code is entered. 

Changes to the Edit PI Data Routine 


After editing a pupil/student's grade in an Exams marksheet or after 

importing an updated EDI file to reflect a re-mark, you can run the PI 

Data Collation routine again although this will lose any manual 

discounting that you may have done. However, if you click the Grade 

Integrity Check button in the PI Calculated Values dialog, the Grade 

and Performance Measures are updated without impacting any manual 

discounting. 

Note: If you have used the Grade Integrity Check routine and the remark 

requires a change to discounting, this must be done manually. 

Changes to the PI Data Collation Routine 

Focus | PI Values | PI Data Collation 

When confirming that the PI Values are current and up-to-date before 

the collation of the PI data begins, you must ensure that the applicable 

version of the Performance Measures file has been imported. This file 

must be imported before running the PI Data Collation routine. 

Note: The PI Data Collation Routine updates any re-marks but does 

not retain any existing manual Discounting that may have been 

undertaken. 



Locking of the PI Data Collation and Editing PI Data Routines 

Focus | PI Values | PI Performance Calculation 

Focus | PI Values | PI Data Collation 


Once the Summer season has been closed, the PI Values menu 

routes in Examinations Organiser are locked from 31 January of the 

year after the closure of the season. This prevents any further 

calculations, collations or edits from taking place. 

KS4 Full Performance Tables Report 

Reports | Results | Performance Tables 

The QAN Code is now displayed in the Full Report Type output for 

schools in England. This is exported to both .TXT or .CSV file types. 

Fixes 


The full course name is now displayed on the Basedata Structure 

report (via Reports | Basedata | Structure). 

Enhancements have been made to grade sets relating to CIE to 

prevent an error during basedata import (via Focus | Basedata). 

When seating examinations across multiple rooms using Seating 

Organiser, you no longer need to reselect the candidates (via Focus 

| Seating Organiser). 

When marksheets relating to a specific series have been locked in 

the basedata structure, it is no longer possible to enter marks using 

this marksheet using SIMS Assessment (via Focus | Assessment | 

Marksheet Entry). 

The Awarding Body Name has been lengthened to 20 characters to 

enable longer names to be displayed when editing PI data (via 

Focus | PI Values | Edit PI Data). 

EYFS Framework 2012 Termly Tracking 

Pri 

New Features 

Provision of Additional Progress Grids 

Additional progress grids and data entry templates have been 

provided, including progress grids that include all age bands and Early 



Learning Goals as rows and each of the 17 Early Learning Goals as 

columns. 12 Data Entry Templates that include a column for each Age 

Band and Early Learning Goal combination are also included. 

Fees (Where Licensed) 

All 

New Features 

New Facility to Set Up Reminders on Overdue Bills and 

Outstanding Balances 

Focus | Alerts | Setup Reminders 

You can now set up an alert to show bill payers with overdue bills and 

outstanding balances so that you can send out reminders to the 

relevant bill payer. The alerts will be displayed in the My Reminders 

widget on the SIMS Home Page. 

New Update Communication Check Box 

Focus | Fees Billing | Process Bills 

The Update Communication check box has been added. When 

selected, an entry for the bill will be visible to all Fees users via Focus | 

Communication, in the relevant Bill Payer Communication panel and in 

the relevant Fees Details page for the applicant or pupil. 

Fixes 


Current pupil/students who have a withdrawn application record for 

a future date are now displayed correctly in the Bill Audit report (via 

Reports | Fees Billing | Billing | Bill Audit). 

InTouch (Where Licensed) 

All 

Fixes 


Inactive behaviour types are no longer available for selection when 

sending behaviour notification messages (via Focus | Behaviour 

Management | Behaviour Notifications). 

The method by which InTouch handles the application of patches 

using dbUpgrade has been enhanced. 



Lesson Monitor (Where Licensed) 

New Features 

Student Identification Column: Medical Conditions 

An additional column identifying where Medical Conditions exist for a 

pupil/student is now available in all routines where pupil/student names 

are listed, e.g. Focus | Lesson Monitor | Take Register, Edit Marks, 

Deal with Missing Marks, etc. 

The column can be set up by the Attendance Manager or School 

Administrator as a default column, or displayed temporarily by rightclicking 

a pupil/student identification column heading and selecting 

from the pop-up menu. 

Fixes 


If a student has two classes at the same time and one teacher mark 

has been recorded but the other one has not, the attendance 

percentages now display correctly (via Reports | Lesson Monitor | 

Individual Student Reports | Individual Subject Attendance 

Summary). 

An error no longer occurs when selecting the History radio button in 

Take Register after the academic structure has been edited (via 

Focus | Lesson Monitor | Take Register). 

The total number of absences on the Session Absences Report now 

displays correctly if a student is a member of multiple user defined 

groups (via Reports | Lesson Monitor | Selected Student Reports | 

Session Absences Report). 

When a student has changed from one registration group to 

another, the possible count (Poss) is now displayed correctly for the 

year group and associated registration groups (via Reports | Lesson 

Monitor | Group Reports | Group Analysis By Attendance Category 

Report). 

If a student has two classes at the same time, the attendance 

percentages are now showing correctly in the Student Analysis By 

Attendance Code Report (via Reports | Lesson Monitor | Whole 

Group Student Reports | Student Analysis By Attendance Code 

Report). 

The automatic fix for Check 60 in Database Diagnostics (checks for 

exceptions in/out of lessons which do not exist) is now activated (via 

Tools | System Diagnostics | Database Diagnostics). 

Sec/Spe 



Nova-T6 

New Features 

Changes to the Refresh Basedata Wizard to Enable the Import of 

Levels 

Data | Refresh Base Data from SQL 

A change has been made to the way that Levels are managed in 

Nova-T6. You can now import the required Level information from the 

SQL database via the SQL Refresh Base Data wizard. Whenever new 

Levels are made available in SIMS, if you require to use them in your 

school, you must ensure that you import them into Nova-T before you 

can assign them to curriculum classes. 

Fixes 


An error no longer occurs when running the Curriculum Matching 

wizard, where you have previously submitted timetables containing 

three character Alternative Curriculum prefixes that differ only in the 

third character (via Data | Export Curriculum and Timetable to SQL). 

Additions to the List of Levels 

The following additional Levels have been provided: 

CIEG iGCSE Full Course 

BTXe2 BTEC Extended Certificate Level 2 

BTSd3 BTEC Subsidiary Diploma Level 3 

IBDPH IB Diploma Program Higher Level 

IBDPS IB Diploma Program Standard Level 

IBMYP IB Middle Years Program 

IBPYP IB Primary Years Program. 

Sec/Spe 

Personnel 

All 

New Features 

Employee Details Page Divided into Tabbed Pages 

Focus | Person | Staff 

The Employee Details page has been divided into three tabbed pages; 

Personnel Details, Professional Details and Employment Details. This 



provides a more organised view of staff data and complements the 

structure for additional functionality relating to Staff Performance 

enhancements to SIMS Personnel. This will be made available for an 

additional charge. 

The functionality and permissions governing the Personnel record 

have not been altered in any way. The new modifications do not impact 

School Workforce Census 2013, the ability to generate salary 

projections within FMS or Third Parties accessing Personnel data 

where this has been permitted by the school. 

The following four lookups have been added to the Post Category 

lookup field for Staff | Pay Related | Post: 

Caretakers - Not required for Statutory Return 

Cleaners - Not required for Statutory Return 

Midday Supervisors - Not required for Statutory Return 

Nursery Nurse - Not required for Statutory Return. 

Where appropriate, for the existing Caretakers, Cleaners, Midday 

Supervisors and Nursery Nurse posts, where the post category has 

been associated with Not Required for Statutory Return, the new 

lookups can be used to update the post category. These new posts 

enable the Long Term Absence Report to analyse and report historical 

staff absences. Please note that these new post category lookups will 

be treated exactly the same as Not Required for Statutory Return, and 

have no impact on any Statutory Return. 

Post 16 2013 Return 

Sec/Spe 

New Features 

Dates for the Post 16 2013 Return 

Routines | Statutory Returns | Post 16 Autumn 

Census date - Tuesday 24 September 2013. 

Age at date - 31 August 2013. 

Changes to Completer Roles 

The list of completer roles displayed in the Survey Completion Time 

panel has been updated to conform with the list provided by the Welsh 

Government. 



Retrieving Authorised Census Returns Files 

Tools | Statutory Returns Tools | Retrieve Authorised Census Return 

Files 

The menu route Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Authorised Census 

Returns has been changed to more accurately describe the 

functionality. 

Authorised return files (.XML) and all associated reports can now be 

downloaded from the Document Management Server (DMS) to a 

specified folder. The files are displayed automatically on download but 

can also be viewed by clicking the Select a Folder button, if required. 

Profiles 

All 

New Features 

Coloured Results in a Session 

Focus | Profiles | Session Manager 

You can now see coloured Result Aspects on a Profiles report. 

Result Description Tag Available on Profiles Reports 

A Result Description tag is now available from the Profiles Template 

menu or the right-click menu to enable Result Descriptions to be 

inserted into Profiles reports. 

Viewing Shared Comments in a Cloned Session 

Focus | Profiles | Session Manager 

If the View Others Comments check box has been selected in an 

existing session, if it contains a class that is taught by more than one 

teacher, it is now possible for Class Teachers to view the comments 

entered by other teachers. 

Fixes 


If you have entered comments for a pupil/student in one class then 

move them to a different class, comments that were entered for the 

original class will not be displayed in Profiles once the original class 

membership has ended (via Focus | Profiles | Review Profiles). 

Where a pupil/student has overlapping school history records, 

duplicate comments are no longer displayed in List Entry (via Focus 

| Profiles | List Entry). 



Reporting 

New Features 

New Fields Relating to Visits Available in the Reporting Dictionary 

Reports | Design Report 

A number of additional fields and sub-reports relating to school visits 

have been added to the Reporting Dictionary to support the additional 

functionality provided in this area for this release. These items are 

available for reports produced using any of the following focus areas: 

Admissions | Visit 

Admissions | Admission Enquiry | Prospective Pupils 

Admissions | Application. 

Fixes 


Applicant details fields are now displayed correctly when creating a 

user-defined report (via Reports | Design Report). 

The performance of the All Staff Timetable report has been 

improved (via Reports | Timetables | All Staff Timetable). 

When creating a report, it is now possible to include a QAN field 

from the Performance Summary and Performance Details nodes 

(via Reports | Design Report). 

All 

School Census Autumn 2013 Return 

All 

New Features 

Dates for the School Census Autumn 2013 Return 

Routines | Statutory Returns | School Census 

Census date – Thursday 3 October 2013. 

Addition of New Report 

Nursery Schools 

Free School Meal Eligibility: On-roll pupil/students on census day who 

are eligible for free school meals on or after 17/05/2013 and up to and 

including Autumn census day (03/10/2013). 



Primary Schools 




Secondary Schools 

Free School Meal Eligibility: On-roll students on census day who are 

eligible for free school meals on or after 17/05/2013 and up to and 


Learning Aims by Status Report: Learning Aims from 01/08/2012 to 

03/10/2013 (including both on-roll and leavers). The report totals the 

Learning Aims by status for academic year 2012/2013 and 

2013/2014 and by each year taught in (YTI). 

Special Schools 




Changes to Data Items Collected for the Return 

Primary Schools 

Replaced: 

Eligibility for free school meals on census day has been replaced by 

eligibility for free school meals records. 

Connexions Assent has been replaced by Youth Support Services 

Agreement (YSSA) (Middle deemed Primary schools only). 

Secondary Schools 

Removed: 

Post 16 Learning Aim Exam Result 

Post 16 Learning Aim Outcome. 

Replaced: 




Agreement (YSSA). 



Added: 

Discount Code (AO Discount Code where Result exists, otherwise 

QWS Discount Code). 


Replaced: 




Agreement (YSSA). 

Collection of Attendance Data 

Primary and Secondary Schools 

Session attendance for pupil's who were four years of age on 

31/08/2012 is collected in the Autumn return for the first time. 

Reason for absence is not required. 

Attendance data for the second half of the Summer term is collected 

for the first time. The data for the two half-terms (01/04/2013 to 

26/05/2013 and 27/05/2013 to 31/07/2013) is collected separately 

so as to maintain comparability with previous collections. 


Session attendance for pupil's who were four years of age on 

31/08/2012 is collected in the Autumn return for the first time. 

Reason for absence is not required. 

Attendance data for the second half of the Summer term is collected 

for the first time. The data for the two half-terms (from the start of 

the Autumn term (i.e. from 01/08/2012) to 26/05/2013 and 

27/05/2013 to 31/07/2013) is collected separately so as to maintain 

comparability with previous collections. 



Files 










School Workforce Census 

New Features 

Dates for the School Workforce Census 2013 

Routines | Statutory Returns | School Workforce Census 

Census date: Thursday 7 November 2013 

Dates for Pupil Referral Units (PRUs): 

Contracts between 01/04/2013 and 07/11/2013 (inclusive) 

Absences between 01/04/2013 and 31/08/2013 (inclusive). 

All 

Dates for other Schools: 

Contracts between 01/09/2012 and 07/11/2013 (inclusive) 

Absences between 01/09/2012 and 31/08/2013 (inclusive). 

Inclusion of Pupil Referral Unit Staff 

This year, for the first time, Pupil Referral Unit staff are included in the 

School Workforce Census Return. 

Dealing with Basic Pay Settings 

Tools | Statutory Returns Tools | School Workforce Census Settings 

The Allow editing of Base Pay check box has been added to the 

Data to be Exported by Default panel, enabling you to indicate 

whether the editing of base pay is required before the pay details 

are collected for the return. 

Routines | Statutory Returns Tools | School Workforce Census 

If the Allow editing of Base Pay check box has been selected (as 

described previously), the Pay Details panel is displayed on the 

School Workforce Census Details page. This new panel displays the 

calculated values of Base Pay for each school workforce member of 

staff. These values can be edited, if required. 

Additional Changes 

Class of first degree (Class of Degree), i.e. where qualification level 

is BEd or other first degree combined with teaching qualification or 



other first degree or equivalent, is being collected for new teachers 

where their employment start date is 1 August 2013 onwards. 

The DfE curriculum subjects have been expanded to include 

Computer Science (CSI). This has been added as a new subject 

code. 



Files 








STAR 

All 

New Features 

Filtering the View of Linked Documents 

Focus | Admission | Application 

Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details 

The list of Linked Documents associated with a pupil/student or 

applicant, accessed via the Links panel, can now be filtered to display 

those of a particular type. 

Enhancements to the Quick Search Facility on the SIMS Home 

Page 

The Quick Search functionality available from the SIMS Home Page 

has been enhanced. The original functionality is retained but additional 

key information is displayed when you hover over search items, 

reducing the need to open the pupil/student or staff record to 

investigate further. Additionally, there is an extended range of tags and 

methods of limiting search criteria. 

Using the Quick Search functionality, it is now possible to search by 

data items including Admission Number, UPN, UCI, Candidate Number 

and telephone number. Filters enable more efficient searches, such as 

current pupil/students, males or females, employees, etc. 



Fixes 


The performance of the SIMS Home Page has been enhanced (via 

Focus | Home Page). 

Where your school week starts on a Saturday or Sunday, the My 

Timeline panel on the SIMS Home Page now displays the correct 

working week (via Focus | Home Page). 

The My Timeline panel on the SIMS Home Page now opens at the 

correct date and time when it is first opened (via Focus | Home 

Page). 

The My Timeline, My Messages and chart-based widgets no longer 

refresh when you choose to close the SIMS Home Page (via Focus | 

Home Page). 

The performance of the search for unlinked contacts that you wish 

to delete has been improved (via Tools | Housekeeping | Delete 

Unlinked Contacts). 

An error is no longer reported when deleting unlinked contacts (via 

Tools | Housekeeping | Delete Unlinked Contacts). 

An error is no longer reported when managing messages for all 

current staff (via Tools | Housekeeping | Manage Messages). 

When generating salutations that include either a stepmother or 

stepfather, the salutations are now generated correctly (via Focus | 

Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details). 

In behaviour management, intervention types are now displayed in 

the order defined in the Intervention Type lookup (via Tools | 

Lookups | Maintain). 

IEP Writer now displays only provisions where the current date lies 

between the from and to dates (via Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil 

(or Student) Details). 

The correct number of points are now allocated to pupil/students 

when their role in a behaviour incident is changed (via Focus | Pupil 

(or Student) or Focus | Behaviour Management). 



Student List Reports 

New Features 

Setting the Default Output Type for Student List Reports and 

Student Analysis Reports 

When running any of the Student Analysis reports (via Reports | 

Student Analysis Reports), or running and subsequently exporting any 

of the Student List reports (via Reports | Student List), the Output type 

now defaults to the option selected the last time you ran that specific 

report, even if you have since restarted SIMS. This functionality 

enables each SIMS user to set a default option for each Student 

Analysis and Student List report. 

Reporting on Specific Classes and Registration Groups on the 

Class List Report and the Registration Group List Report 

When running the Class List report (via Reports | Student List | Class 

List) or the Registration Group List report (via Reports | Student List | 

Registration Group List), a new option enables you to report on only 

the selected classes or registration groups. 

Selecting an Effective Date on the Class List Report 

When running the Class List report (via Reports | Student List | Class 

List), you can now specify an effective date so that the report can be 

generated, viewed, printed and exported before the start of term. 

All 

System Maintenance and Utilities 

Fixes 

All 


Check 29 Improper Term Time Closure defined for has been 

amended to look at the last three years only (via Tools | System 

Diagnostics | Database Diagnostics). 

System Manager 

New Features 

All 

Enhanced Password Security 

The minimum password length has been increased to eight characters. 

This does not affect existing passwords until the point when they are 

changed, where the eight character minimum will be enforced. Any 

new users created will also have the eight character minimum 

enforced. This change does not affect accounts that have been set up 

as trusted with Windows Authentication. 



Merging Template Groups 

The template groups Exams Operator and Exams Oper have been 

merged, as have the Admission Officer and Admissions Officer groups. 

Users assigned to these groups will be moved into the remaining 

template group. You are strongly advised to verify that all of the 

required permissions have been moved. 

Custom Permission Groups 

The System Manager can now identify easily the difference between 

permissions in a custom group and its linked template group. 

Permissions in the custom group that are different to the linked 

template are now highlighted in yellow in the Permissions panel. 

This applies to any custom groups that have been created or cloned 

since the upgrade to the SIMS 2013 Summer Release, as well as to 

any custom groups that already exist in SIMS that have linked to them 

a template group. 

Fixes 


The workstation ID is now displayed on the User Access Log (via 

Focus | System Manager | User Access Log). 

Group names now remain unchanged when resetting the 

permissions associated with the selected cloned group (via Focus | 

System Manager | Manage Groups).

SIMS 2013 Summer Upgrade now available 13-E63 - EiS Kent

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